Me: Hey, this Enki seems like a pretty swell guy, making humans and fixing up all these problems Red: And then he made a being whose whole existence is endless and inescapable suffering, just to prove he could Me: Oh right, he’s a god
Proably has something to do with the mythological explanation. the story mostly seems to be saying ''dont discount people with disabilities, they can do different things'' the last guy is probably a reality check. having a absolutely useless member of society can happen after all and these people likely dint have a lot of extra live resources around.
How did we get here? Christianity: “God made two humans in his image!” Sumerians: “two gods had an art contest” Aztecs: “A big ol’ snek tripped over some bones”
Ninmah: *creates humans with relatively minor disabilities* Enki: oh okay sure *creates a barely functioning half Corpse* Ninmah: why are you like this
Ninmah: *creates dude with hands that don't work* Enki: "His disadvantage can still make him worthwhile!" Ninmah: *makes a blind dude* Enki: "That won't hold him back, I'll make him a great musician!" Ninmah: *makes a dude with feet that don't work* Enki: "That won't hold him back, I'll make him an amazing silversmith!" Ninmah: *makes an infertile woman* Enki: "That won't hold her back, I'll make her an amazing weaver!" Ninmah: *makes an intersex person* Enki: "That won't hold him/her/them back, I'll give them an honored position!" Ninmah: *makes a man with erectile dysfunction* Enki: "Lol let me fix that up real quick."
@@jolkert_ there's actually a very funny mythological reason for why enki was able to fix it so easily. that mythological reason being that all water was believed to be enki's semen. now you're cursed with this knowledge too.
Most myths: uhh, congenially disabled people are cursed. Mesopotamians: eh, the gods are just fucking around. Don't worry, you're also fated for things to balance out in the end.
True, look at Norse culture. Aslaug: I have given birth to a monster and he will be cursed by the world. Ivar The Boneless: Fuck the world!!! I am Ivar The Boneless!
Umal: “Why do I exist?” God: “Oh I created you to win a bet, you’re designed to be so wretched that not even divine intervention can cause you to have the slightest redeeming quality.” Umal: “...”
Well, if you think about it too much, umal wouldn't even be able to formulate the ability to say 'Why do I exist?' and would not even understand what God says to him in response. Which means he technically too ignorant and without function to even think he is unfortunate, which would arguably make him happy.
That does explain why babies cry so much. They're have a constant existential breakdown for the first year or so of their life. Afterwards they learn how to cope with it (IE by not thinking about it and making it someone else's problem)
Not many religions tackle "why are why are some people different?" with something as positive as "don't worry, unless you're full vegetable you're fine."
Interestingly, Christianity's answer, according to John 9, is that God uses them to show his glory, either by healing them at some point, or through them having the same worth as anyone else. The disabled people God doesn't heal are also capable of helping others in unconventional ways. If you think I'm unaware of the church's bias against disabilities, you're wrong. I'm both Christian and disabled. The ablism isn't part of Christian teachings, it's people misinterpreting or downright ignoring the Bible.
See, I kinda saw it as the opposite. "f*** it, you're going to wake ME up 'cause you think I'm lazy? I'm going to spend the next hour or so making not just a headache, but a metaphorical migraine that will cause you problems for the next millennium! So think TWICE before intruding on my naps!"
That kind of reminds me of an old Norse poem: "A limping man can ride a horse, a handless man can herd, a Deaf man can fight and win. It's better even to be blind than fuel for a funeral pyre; what can a dead man do?"
@@lordfelidae4505 But what if a martyr can't be a dead man...okay, thanks for the writing prompt. Immortal person who constantly throws revolutions. Always ends up being perceived as a martyr because he does reckless things and eventually disappears for a few days for whatever reason in every revolution, then when he gets back to his movement he has to hide that he's still alive because the revolution's going better without him.
I love how often Enki getting drunk has an effect on humanity. My favorite myth is the one where Inanna intentionally gets Enki drunk, and Enki gives her all the elements of godly wisdom to gift to mankind, then Enki sobers up and tries to stop Inanna from giving wisdom to mankind. "God was drunk" is really the best way to describe a lot of things in the universe.
As Red pointed out in the end: Its not about disabilities being because of a drunken bet. The takeaway is that anyone has value and a place in the universe.
Mesopotamian Gods: "Let's create humans so we don't have to work." Humans: "Let's create robots so we don't have to work." Robots: "Lets create ........" The legacy of slacking-off continues on through the ages. Seriously though, It's always boggled my mind that Mesopotamians believed that humans came from some divine "life-hack". Just to do less work.
This reminds me of the Mianite Season 2 'Origin' Where his main capitol city was originally in his toybox as a sort of project he'd work on in his spare time and Maybe not real yet?
@@omnicupid6694 What about Non-Binary or Gender non-conforming deities? What about them? Sincerely, A writer who dabbles in unknowable entities too vast to truly comprehend
Ugh that European view always bothered me. Glad Red took the time to explain it. I'd love a space to relax and chill just for the ladies even nowadays lol
The original use makes way more sense, litterally a safe place for women and children separate from all the creepy dudes who haven't bathed in a week. The modern use is definitely just poligamy but worse. And somehow I'm not surprised that crusaders saw a women only wing and went: "we found the sex dungeon" (if you watch blue you understand)
@@lordfelidae4505 lets just say one of the crusades (4th) was just Venice looting Constantinople (Istanbul now) on what remained of Byzantium. The crusades were definitely political atleast as much as they were religious. That said its not surprising that christain europeans of that era had zero understanding of foreign cultures and completely got it wrong. PS: Spain through out platinum in south america because it wasn't gold. History is wierd and full of irony.
This is actually a surprisingly positive story that not only affirms people's differences but also points out that every person, no matter their supposed physical or character flaw, has a place in society and a way to contribute. Inclusivity, everybody!
"Enki makes her a skilled weaver and puts her in the harem of the queen." Me: The queen gets her own harem? Well, alright! *historical explanation of what the harem actually is* Me: I am slightly disappointed but nonetheless educated!
These responses are a bit tasteless given the explanation is there to dissuade these notions about something hornier that arose from racist and imperialist white perspectives on nonwhite societies.
@@cassidyjones2730 Actually Muslims are WHITE, just with a tan. Also it was likely used in a way to 1. discredit Islam, and 2. was something most horny people wanted to hear and may have been jealous about. You'll find Europeans writing about how "exotic" the foreigners and their ways where; only Politian's, and ruthless businessmen trying to capitalize or exploit those people, or their own people's opinions demonized those outsiders. Look no further then what the Europeans said about eachother in their own propagandas from the 1700s to the world wars
Red voice acting 2 drunk gods talking to each other was something I never thought I needed in my life, but now I don’t know how I went so long without it.
The text in case you didn't pause: This is your reminder that "harem" literally just means "women's quarters of the household", a private space where the women and pre-pubescent men of the family (specifically the royal family) could hang out in a modest and protected area, often guarded by eunuchs. It originated in Mesopotamia, hence its use in this myth, and was later adopted into the Islamic world. The sexualized interpretation popular today was the result of salacious European dudes who concluded the only reason Muslim women would stay in a private room they weren't allowed into was if they were saving all the Hot Exotic Loving for their Male Masters. In practice, it was simply considered socially inappropriate for women to interact with men outside their own husbands and family, though this was limited somewhat by practicality, as many working-class women held jobs that put them in contact with the public in general. This also created a space of jobs that needed women to do them for decency reasons any situation that involved women's needs would be naturally forbidden to men. A harem was a sign of social status and privilege as it was indicated the family was well off enough that the women did not need to work. As a result, women in a harem were often of high social status and politically powerful.
@@BJGvideos That's haram, completely different word. Harem is the anglicised version of the Arabic word harim while haram is just straight up an Arabic word they look similar written down and sound similar, at least in English, but have different meanings.
@@BJGvideos Well they effectively are different forms of the same basic meaning in that they have the same root. Semitic languages have a bunch of root consonants that have a general basic meaning and are used in a whole lot of words, in this case H-R-M which does at it's core means forbidden. Harim and haram along with a whole bunch of other words like mahram and ihram are words with really specific meanings that come from a series of consonants that has a general meaning. So harim means either the quarters of ones house set aside for women that is forbidden entry to non-familial men or sometimes just female family members while haram specifically means things that are ritually impure and thus forbidden however in colloquial speech haram is often used to mean forbidden in the general sense because H-R-M isn't a word itself. Although because harem is an English word it has taken on a whole bunch of different connotations and meanings other than just purely what it means in Arabic.
I feel like the Sumerians kinda had the most plausible creation myth. One God created man and woman in his image and gave them free will? Nah. Two drunk gods had a marital spat at a party and made increasingly mangled humans in a weird attempt to one-up each other? Sounds about right. Also, good on Enki and Ninmah for having so much positive representation of people with disabilities.
Does anyone else have a feeling that the intersex person in a place of honor is related to super cute androgynous being from the myth where Ishtar visits the underworld who gets mystical powers?
The specific position possibly being referred to (again the text is broken so we can't ever be sure, it's just something neat) is called "Gala" if you'd like to do some deep research :D
All religions and myths are just trying to answer questions that 5 year olds were asking everyone who’ll listen thousands of years ago Edit: Wow! Over 2k likes, thanks everyone!!
It makes sense. So rather than tell their kids the actual facts of life they just flat-out invented a religion to sidestep the question. Guess things don't change all that much, huh?
For those who wonder, like Red, why she depicted Enki with a fish on his head: He (and the basically-identical Babylonian god Ea) were sometimes depicted as "a man covered with the skin of a fish," which looks kinda like a fishy headdress.
I love this myth which is why it makes me sad at Red's interpretation of the end. If you look at Umal as an adult then yes he is messed up but that is not the point. Enki made a baby. If you read the original source material the description of Umal fits with a newborn baby and Ninmah gives Umal the fate of being cared for by their mother.
Actually, that kinda makes complete sense. Babies can't walk, can't talk, they can't ask for things and they don't really respond to stuff sometimes. I wonder if Umul grew up to be a normal person.
@@mariustan9275 in the last lines of the epic Enki declares that Umal will build his house. So it it implies that he does grow up to build a temple for Enki.
I'm really enjoying ancient Summeria's mythological portrayal of the sick, disabled and intersex. As a disabled man it's nice to see that ancient societies appreciated their value somewhat and acknowledged the important roles that they could still play in benefiting society
@@carlweeper7436 To be fair this was the ancient times. People lived very short lives and kids frequently died due to various reasons. Not being able to produce baby batter could very well doom your community to dying out.
Also notice how this myth _doesn't blame_ the person with a disability for having it. Contrast with the Ancient Greeks, Rome, Christianity, … Nope, the message to someone with a disability is, “Eh, not your fault. The gods were just drunk when they made you.”
I have a big... BIG... BIIIIGGGGG... muscles!!! HAHAHA!!! What did you think I was going for? That's so DIRTY of you! GAGAGAGA!!! I am the funniest RUclipsr ever! Maybe that's the reason why I have TWO (!!!) HOT (!) GIRLFRIENDS. Thanks for being alive, dear kos
So, according to this myth, humanity and all of its flaws were really just the product of sleep-influenced and/or drunken decisions. That makes a lot of sense, actually...
@@samsmith4242 The mental health issues are often caused by forced surgical modification of their genitalia and social pressure that tries to convince them their bodies are broken. Not to mention gender dysphoria because people have bullshit ideas about how the human body is supposed to look. They get assigned the wrong gender at birth and the game is on. The physical issues aren't common unless the bozos screw up the genital normalization torture... er, procedures.
Ninmah: "Oh yeah, I think I WILL make a guy with severe distrust of authority! See if you can put HIM in the king's court, he won't wanna!" Enki: "...I'm making HIM the king." Ninmah: "ME-DAMMIT"
@@kaboomgaming4255 Depends on the severity of the distrust. I mean, if he doesn't have confidence in any of his decisions, there's a good couple of ways that could backfire. But still, probably better to have a self distrusting king than a narcissistic war-monger king.
@@jacintacapelety9600 Or completely paranoid of anyone else who has any authority who could surpass him even if they are his subordinates. Leading to frequent vacant positions in the government.
I like how for all the other parts it was like “lol it’s okay you don’t need eyes or hands or feet to contribute to society” but for the dong is “nope let’s get that fixed someone get the magic water”
Well I mean without a dong you can't do the primary purpose of all living beings, that being procreation. A dude with any limb missing is still functional. A dude with his dick missing is biologically completely defunct, same goes for a woman without a uterus.
@@red5t653 I think you've sort of missed the point of the comment? The very next person listed in the video is an infertile woman, and she gets to find purpose as a great weaver. Dong-don't-work-guy doesn't get a cool alternate purpose though, he just gets his dong fixed.
@@sockpuppetqueen Oh uh hm... Yeah that's a bit of failed listening. Bit weird how they make the distinction although I suppose fertility was nowhere close to being properly figured out yet.
@Caiden Leonard in fact, his problem is that he can't NOT pee- the original text describes him as not being able to hold his urine, like that's the specific way his dong doesn't work Which I guess is actually a lot more disruptive than just being infertile
Enki had severe drinking problem: He had an argument with his daughter Inanna (also known as Ishtar), as she wanted to give the gift of civilisation to humans, to make their lives easier but he said no and they had a row. Later in Anna shows up at her father's side with beer says a let's let bygones be bygones and have a party, which they do. But she went into this with a plan, she got her father extremely drunk, and then played the whole "you know how I'm your favourite daughter? Well there's something I really want..." Routine. Enki, thoroughly plastered at this point, gives Inanna the powers of heaven and the gifts of civilization; at which point she then immediately books it to the other of the world, and he goes to sleep. Enki wakes up in the morning (presumably with a massive hangover), and realises that his power, crown and sceptre are missing. Enki goes to Inanna but since she is now far more powerful than him, she refuses and continues to give the gift of civilisation to humans, allowing them to change the world, tame beasts, plough the earth and plant crops. Enki is quite upset by this because he didn't want humans to have the power of god's, but since he gave away the crown and powers of heaven, he can't really stop his daughter and just kind of complains moodily.
imagine being created as a human being and your only purpose is to feel pain and have a fate so horrible it can’t be fixed even by a creator goddess on high and then all the gods praise your creator for being so great and benevolent would that be fucked up or what
Nah, that's kinda what the Christian god is to some people. An all powerful being that's praise for being benevolent yet he made you refuse to help you or others to end the suffering.
So let me get this straight... In Sumerian myth, the first humans were created because of one dude's laziness, while the concept of disability was created as a result of a drunken marital spat?
@Manek Iridius Alright, if you want to correct what is obviously a joke and be super-technical, I'll correct your obviously serious comment and be even more super-technical: People aren't the source of all the world's problems, people who are assholes and/or idiots are the source of all the world's problems. I knew that already, which is why I typed "That's sarcasm and a joke..." after my comment in brackets.
@@theomnissiah-9120 YES. The mental image of Tiamat, Beast of Humanity, Primordial Goddess attempting to be passive aggressive is an extremely hilarious mental image-
@@medusashusband4680 The funniest part is how it would probably make sense. Tiamat is often very doting but her force of personality is deffinitely strong enough to start acting a little passive-agressive towards unruly children. Like imagine someone not eating their vegetables and Tiamat just in the background becoming increasing annoyed about it.
Ninmah only lost because she apparently (despite her being wasted on heavenly booze) had enough compassion towards her creations not to so thoroughly screw them over to the point of being beyond all hope by making them exist in a persistent vegetative state.
Ultimately, the nature of humanity is just one massive enigma that we’ve only recently begun to scratch the surface of. Edit: Okay, Red’s drunk voice is the best! XD
i like to believe that humans were just thrown on the planet for funsies and that whatever gods or goddesses put us here are just watching us like how we’d watch the office
From what I’ve seen from most culture’s mythologies, humans seem to project their own characteristics onto their gods in order to make them more familiar and relatable to their worshippers. However, this can be a double edged sword as these gods have all the flaws of humanity which are amplified by their supernatural powers and almost total lack of consequences.
I like how the humans were literally just created as an exploitable workforce. These gods are so open about how selfish their motives for making humanity are.
Gilgamesh came into power because his king was forcing everyone to dig canals for free. Apparently, making people did canals is just what authority figures do.
Finally an ancient myth that explains why im chronically ill with out like blaming me, my anecestors, or me but in a past life. i feel bad for chronically ill people of the past always getting blamed for their own bodies being a mess.
At least some of the Afrodiasporan faiths (I havne't checked to see if it's common) believe people with disabilities were created the day Obatala became drunk on palm wine and kept working anyway. He's their special protector and patron because of this.
Most religions have things like that as a curse from the gods, it's relatively modern that that kind of thing actually meant anything though. Most polytheistic religions operate on the principle that the gods are unpredictable/jackasses/fickle, and therefore one or more of them not liking your doesn't say much other than "it's nothing about you, but, well, if the gods hate you, I don't want to associate with you, I don't want to become collateral damage." The Greeks did have the perception at some point that being blessed or cursed by the gods was an indicator of your character in some way, physical beauty could quite literally win you a criminal trial on the basis of the gods' blessing meaning your can't be guilty. Generally speaking, the more a religion believes in the fairness of the world/gods, the more likely they are to believe that if you have some kind of blessing or problem, you earned it one way or another.
BRUH, _he created a person, who's only semblance of a purpose, in what could _*_loosely_*_ be described as life, is literally pain,_ and everyone just went, "Yeah, this guy is great!" 👀
To be fair to him that was the point of the contest. The other god was trying to create someone who could find or do no good to she just was bad at it.
That creation myth was really deep for something so short. It gets into the topics of ableism, infertility (apparently not sexism tho cuz the man gets his infertility fixed with magic), n at the end it shows us to accept that sometimes we can't save everyone (stillbirths I think was more the idea they were going for but I it applies well to terminal illness as well)
Ninmah: Creates people with disabilities they have to work around. Enki: Works around those disabilities to give the a good life. Ninmah: Creates an guy whose dong doesn't work. Enki: Oh hell no, we're fixing that one.
Infertile dude: "Oh no I can't have kids." Enki: dumps magic water on him and cures his infertility Infertile woman: "Oh no I can't have kids" Enki: Makes her a weaver and puts her in the queen's harem without curing her infertility. Somehow this seems a bit unfair...
@@maucazalv903 yea. Women frequently give up kids and a husband to pursue artistic and intellectual pursuits because they had to. Joining convents to write for heavens sake or even join politics. I like to think she's baby averse so the gods look nicer
From the description: "Make sure to pause for an unnecessarily detailed explanation of what a harem actually is!" Based on some of the takes I've seen on harems... no, it's really necessary.
So you mean to tell me that degenerate seasonal anime starting poorly drawn nymphets of questionable ages classified as the "Harem" genre might not use a historically accurate definition?
The top god would be Enlil. Actually that would be of the nine deities. Above them it is Anu. In teh Sumerian narration the goddess makes the humans and wants to discard some of them. I is Enki is the caring one and finds jobs for them. This video sounds like the Babylonian version.
I love that the myth implies that people with physical disabilities were respected and given special considerations for employment in ancient Sumerian society. The Sumerians also seemed to be more understanding and accepting of LGBT peoples based on references to intersex people, eunuchs, and male priests who dressed up as women as part of some fertility goddess cults.
Eunuchs in the context of a harem were a caste (often made of *slaves*) who got castrated without anesthesia and potentially with questionable consent. Is that something you really want representing "understanding"?
Don't make the mistake of wishful thinking, believing history at any point was on the side of LGBT. It REALLY wasn't nearly as fun as your cherry picking makes it out to be
If Ishtar taught us anything, it's that being nonbinary or, in this case, intersex, is hot, and badass, not a bad fortune. (Even though there are medical complications) In summary, intersex people are awesome. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. (I'm dating an intersex person, so I had to speak up. Also, thanks Red for validation, since I'm paralyzed. I slowed down the credits.)
a lot of intersex conditions destroy your body, it aint that great. I'm just a woman with swyer syndrome, it's like any other medical condition, not hot lol. Your SO prob feels the same, the only thing it's ever gotten most of us is medical abuse, a select few might get book deals. These stories are nice for representation, but it's like saying type 1 diabetics or people with cleft lips are "all your flowery adjectives here" because there's some myth to rationalize it because those people didn't understand how or why those things happened, so they made mythological context of their own. Just treat us like regular people, don't project your idea of what activism we need onto us (we fall under disabilities rights if you MUST insert yourself) speak up when people try to use us as pawns in their trans/gender arguments, and help prevent childhood medical abuse. Oh, and advocate for the stopping of othering us, like putting Xs on birth certs for intersex babies, that shit is dangerous. That's it. This kind of empty worded praise from dyadics just comes across as condescending. Thanks for coming to MY ted talk.
i could fix umel. since he has no internal organs, he’s not really a person, but he still has to have a better fate. if all he can do is moan in pain, then he is now the thing responsible for the weird sounds you hear at night. ta da
@@jordanloux3883 I hate the "this goes against what i believe so instead of reevaluating myself, I'm gonna see myself as the victim! I'm not wrong, my morals are being attacked!!" mindset that false Christianity has fostered in mankind. And I'm a (progressive) Christian so it's pretty impressive to make me disappointed in my fellow Jesus followers.
"Someone who can't understand her might not even qualify as being alive because he's that messed up." Well, she could have put him to work in Congress and thereby won the contest.
Suspicion: Enki kept with the “Place in the king’s court” blessings specifically as a voluntary handicap to piss Ninmah off. “Not only can I counterbalance anything you can do, I can do it all with the same basic blessing!” “There are not yet words for how much I hate you, fish-boy.” “Ooh, make another one, I’ll turn them into a poet for the King so they can make those words for you!”
You should read some South American creation myths. They are different from other parts of the world, but similiar to each other. Basically, every South American creation myth shares this common traits: The "Creator" that makes the world, but then doesn't do anything else. After that we get the "Great Hero of Civilization" some person, some times a god made man, sometimes a demigod, some times just a primordial human, who is able to gather everyone to follow him, teaches them to hunt, creates the first laws and legal system. Immediately we usually get "The Deciever" another person that is a form of primordial evil, or a jealous person, or the first person with evil intent, who either tries to kill or defeats the "Great Hero of Civilization" making mankind doubt his prowess and/or wisdom. A little later the "Great Hero of Civilization" returns, defeats "The Deciever" to return to his spot as leader of civilization. Tells mankind the last of his wisdom, and then disappears into the sky/ocean/night never to return. Every South American creation myth from Colombia to Peru, Chile, Argentina, etc, has some sort of variation of this formula.
The Question of Eldritch abominations: Why do THEY exist? Simple answer: The Accidental Sentient Universal Center of Everything had some bits that it spat out, and then they tried keeping them alseep for longer
"Apparently weenis-doesn't work disease is caused by minor demonic possession." the way that was delivered fuckin killed me, I love your writing. never fails to make me smile.
It's actually really interesting that a society as ancient as Mesopotamia thought of a creation myth for differently abled people and effectively told them "You aren't defined by your disability. You have worth and can aspire to great things!"
as a cripple intersex person the words "differently abled" feels so condescending in a way only the most arrogant summer school teacher could achieve lmfao I'm not differently abled, I have lesions in my spine and garbled chromosomes, it's okay to call it like you sees it. It's like calling the slow kid "special." We all know what you mean, dude lol.
@appalachiabrauchfrau Fair enough. You are also oversensitive and use your pain to cast yourself as a victim. God made you. If He wanted you dead you would be. Pray for guidance. Use your weaknesses as your strengths. Find something you are good at that fills you with passion. Use it to serve humanity. Stop fearing words. Get up.
Norse mythology and Sumerian mythology have myths like this where the gods have working marriage where they just mess with humans in order to one up each other (like that time Frigga made a king imprison Odin to win a bet) then there’s Greek mythology and their gods in dysfunctional hot mess marriages
Enki always had a fish on his head, it’s just how he roll. Even some of the earliest depictions of him you could tell the artist went “how to say he’s a god of water? Oh!” *slaps fish on his head* “perfect”
*Enki:* I win! *Ninmah:* Fine, here's your booze or whatever. *Enki:* Good job Umal. *Umal:* KILL ME I'M IN CONSTANT PAIN!!!! *Enki:* That's the spirit.
I actually named my Inteleon Enki, because I saw that he was the God of water and knowledge and slapped it on my boy and called it a day. Its cool to now be hearing about him from my favourite story tellers.
In context and depending on the source used, it's implied that Umul was the first human baby and his inability to do things is just normal baby stuff, since all humans had been made fully formed until then.
For real though, the whole "you aren't broken if you're disabled/infertile/intersex" message is actually really cool, and much more wholesome then I expected from a thousands years old myth Edit: typo
Eeeh I dunno, considering that all of their "good fates" were working for the king, you could easily read this sending a message of "It's okay to be born different, so long as you are still useful to the people in power" which, if you ask me, is a little bit messed up and gives off some authoritarian vibes. Maybe that's just me though.
Healthy disrespect for authority? Make them the Commoner's Representative to the King's court, to remind the King of his duties to the people, and how vastly they outnumber him.
Enki is amazing and sadly overlooked even more than other Sumerian gods are. Probably my favorite deity in Mesopotamian Mythos. Glad that you made video on him.
"A healthy disrespect for authority"
"The king's court now has a jester."
Yes 👍
Ah yes. The King's Fool. The only one who is foolish enough to tell him the truth.
history’s first anarchist ✊
@@Kartissa The king's wisest advisor, and the luckiest.
@@amellirizarry9503 Bakunin is rolling his grave right now. ''my philosophy is more then: i dont like bosses, oke''
Me: Hey, this Enki seems like a pretty swell guy, making humans and fixing up all these problems
Red: And then he made a being whose whole existence is endless and inescapable suffering, just to prove he could
Me: Oh right, he’s a god
Then they locked the wretch in a dank cell in Omelas and everybody else lived happily ever after. Or walked away.
Proably has something to do with the mythological explanation.
the story mostly seems to be saying ''dont discount people with disabilities, they can do different things''
the last guy is probably a reality check. having a absolutely useless member of society can happen after all and these people likely dint have a lot of extra live resources around.
Help
@@SeanFlynnNB I understood that reference.
@@SeanFlynnNB Of course, those who’ve walked away were the ones to discover the poor child.
How did we get here?
Christianity: “God made two humans in his image!”
Sumerians: “two gods had an art contest”
Aztecs: “A big ol’ snek tripped over some bones”
That last one is a bit oversimplified since humans DID exist before that. Just not the humans we know.
Then there's Egypt ,where the univers was born from the first God ....after effects of jacking off
Please elaborate
Smart people: we evolved from apes
Greeks: We had men and then the dev that designed them f*cked up, so we made a new design that is evil and cunning and gave it to the dev’s brother
Ninmah: *creates humans with relatively minor disabilities*
Enki: oh okay sure *creates a barely functioning half Corpse*
Ninmah: why are you like this
"I won according to rules I set up and _you_ were too drunk to properly inkware...encla...to ask about good enough! So there!"
Like bro made Schrödinger’s dude I see some disproportionate difficulty
Ninmah: *creates dude with hands that don't work*
Enki: "His disadvantage can still make him worthwhile!"
Ninmah: *makes a blind dude*
Enki: "That won't hold him back, I'll make him a great musician!"
Ninmah: *makes a dude with feet that don't work*
Enki: "That won't hold him back, I'll make him an amazing silversmith!"
Ninmah: *makes an infertile woman*
Enki: "That won't hold her back, I'll make her an amazing weaver!"
Ninmah: *makes an intersex person*
Enki: "That won't hold him/her/them back, I'll give them an honored position!"
Ninmah: *makes a man with erectile dysfunction*
Enki: "Lol let me fix that up real quick."
it's canon: there simply is no fate worse than "dong don't work"
except maybe that one guy who was just completely nonfunctional
@@jolkert_ who knows tho maybe his dong do work
@@jolkert_ there's actually a very funny mythological reason for why enki was able to fix it so easily. that mythological reason being that all water was believed to be enki's semen. now you're cursed with this knowledge too.
@@karaszi4183 HAHAHAH WHHYYYY
He couldn't just sit by and watch another man bare that fate.
Most myths: uhh, congenially disabled people are cursed.
Mesopotamians: eh, the gods are just fucking around. Don't worry, you're also fated for things to balance out in the end.
unless your that last guy, then the gods are just being assholes. the good news is that we have nukes.
True, look at Norse culture.
Aslaug: I have given birth to a monster and he will be cursed by the world.
Ivar The Boneless: Fuck the world!!! I am Ivar The Boneless!
More like, "Eh, the gods were drunk."
This has 666 likes!
@@santiagotorrezsegarra7790 if we strap enough nukes together anything is possible
Umal: “Why do I exist?”
God: “Oh I created you to win a bet, you’re designed to be so wretched that not even divine intervention can cause you to have the slightest redeeming quality.”
Umal: “...”
"Oh my God."
@@thexenosaiyan
Enki: "Yeah welcome to the club pal."
So that's how my dad got here
Well, if you think about it too much, umal wouldn't even be able to formulate the ability to say 'Why do I exist?' and would not even understand what God says to him in response. Which means he technically too ignorant and without function to even think he is unfortunate, which would arguably make him happy.
@@DarkSol16 I don't think he could even be happy. He just has the barest sense of consciousness.
"Baby's first existential question."
WHAT IS LIFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Red, 2021
@@overlorde7526 human don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more
That does explain why babies cry so much. They're have a constant existential breakdown for the first year or so of their life.
Afterwards they learn how to cope with it (IE by not thinking about it and making it someone else's problem)
@@overlorde7526 WHAT IS LOVE?
BABY DON'T HURT ME!
Not many religions tackle "why are why are some people different?" with something as positive as "don't worry, unless you're full vegetable you're fine."
If your dong dont work we have to fix it
@@randomperson5289Wait to see a snake oil salesman selling "Magic dong fixing water"
Interestingly, Christianity's answer, according to John 9, is that God uses them to show his glory, either by healing them at some point, or through them having the same worth as anyone else. The disabled people God doesn't heal are also capable of helping others in unconventional ways.
If you think I'm unaware of the church's bias against disabilities, you're wrong. I'm both Christian and disabled. The ablism isn't part of Christian teachings, it's people misinterpreting or downright ignoring the Bible.
@@metarcee2483People misinterpreting holy texts?! Inconceivable!
@@fisch37 you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
- Inigo Montoya
Enki teaches us that it doesn't matter how useless you might be perceived by society, you're always good enough to be a bureaucrat.
Unless your dick don't work. That needs to be fixed lol
😂
Okay, that was very funny 😂😂😂😂
Love how humanity was created out of pure drunkeness and stupidty.
The only way it could possibly be.
As it should be.
It just makes sense.
Well, in this myth, humans were created to be canal-digging slaves. The drunken stupidity explains why some of us are ill-suited to digging canals.
Always has been
I guess in Enki’s case, lazy did not mean slothful.
“I can do all these amazing things! Just, need a quick power nap first!”
He's giving big lazy genius vibes.
See, I kinda saw it as the opposite.
"f*** it, you're going to wake ME up 'cause you think I'm lazy? I'm going to spend the next hour or so making not just a headache, but a metaphorical migraine that will cause you problems for the next millennium! So think TWICE before intruding on my naps!"
@@smoothmasterz
Honestly, either works. 🤷♂️
Quick power nap in the case of a god is prolly something like 5 years but still
@@defensivekobra3873
Eh, time is wonky when your really tiny or to divine to care.
That kind of reminds me of an old Norse poem: "A limping man can ride a horse, a handless man can herd, a Deaf man can fight and win. It's better even to be blind than fuel for a funeral pyre; what can a dead man do?"
Dude that's kinda legit inspirational. Like hey, yeah, if nothing else, I'm way more competent than a dead guy! Suck it, dead guys.
@@sockpuppetqueen Aaaand, cue the Draugr.
a dead man can be come fertilizer
A dead man can be a martyr.
@@lordfelidae4505 But what if a martyr can't be a dead man...okay, thanks for the writing prompt. Immortal person who constantly throws revolutions. Always ends up being perceived as a martyr because he does reckless things and eventually disappears for a few days for whatever reason in every revolution, then when he gets back to his movement he has to hide that he's still alive because the revolution's going better without him.
I love how often Enki getting drunk has an effect on humanity. My favorite myth is the one where Inanna intentionally gets Enki drunk, and Enki gives her all the elements of godly wisdom to gift to mankind, then Enki sobers up and tries to stop Inanna from giving wisdom to mankind. "God was drunk" is really the best way to describe a lot of things in the universe.
WE HAVE TO SAVE THE HUMAN RACE! GET SEKHMET DRUNK!!!
Child: **ask an existential questions too difficult to answer logically**
Mesopotamian parents: yeah god was really knocked up when they created that
Norse pantheon nodding in agreement.
Ah, so my autism and ADHD happened because 2 Sumerian Gods had a drunken bet. Thanks, universe.
@@Sami-zr3hy You misunderstand. Autism and ADHD can and in many cases are good parts of us. 🐍
Omg same I also have autism and ADHD
@@Getsugaruthat's facts right there
As Red pointed out in the end: Its not about disabilities being because of a drunken bet.
The takeaway is that anyone has value and a place in the universe.
_Nergal Intensifies_
Mesopotamian Gods: "Let's create humans so we don't have to work."
Humans: "Let's create robots so we don't have to work."
Robots: "Lets create ........"
The legacy of slacking-off continues on through the ages.
Seriously though, It's always boggled my mind that Mesopotamians believed that humans came from some divine "life-hack".
Just to do less work.
That is probably because they were a slave owning society
@@whydama
The US was also a slave-owning society at one point, but they didn’t believe that.
O thrifty, lazy universe!
Each mote and man and beast
Shall find a path it may traverse
Whose action is the least!
@@kziila0244 no, but they tried to make their slaves believe it
@@bobthemouse6668
Fair point.
"Playing with dolls is for g-"
""For girls"? That's pretty sexist."
"I was going to say "for gods"."
This reminds me of the Mianite Season 2 'Origin'
Where his main capitol city was originally in his toybox as a sort of project he'd work on in his spare time and Maybe not real yet?
"Not 'for goddesses'?! That's pretty sexist too."
I don't know what I'm doing, lol.
@@omnicupid6694 What about Non-Binary or Gender non-conforming deities? What about them?
Sincerely, A writer who dabbles in unknowable entities too vast to truly comprehend
@@Axius27 assuming they are entities much?
@@navvesegal9593 What am I supposed to call them then? Attack Helicopters?
Islamic Royalty: So this is the maids' quarters-
European Translator: SEX CHAMBER!
Pretty much. It went from Princess Leia to Slave Leia real quick!
Ugh that European view always bothered me. Glad Red took the time to explain it.
I'd love a space to relax and chill just for the ladies even nowadays lol
The original use makes way more sense, litterally a safe place for women and children separate from all the creepy dudes who haven't bathed in a week.
The modern use is definitely just poligamy but worse. And somehow I'm not surprised that crusaders saw a women only wing and went: "we found the sex dungeon" (if you watch blue you understand)
@@jasonreed7522 I don’t and I can figure that the Christian murder train had a few more fundamental violations under its belt.
@@lordfelidae4505 lets just say one of the crusades (4th) was just Venice looting Constantinople (Istanbul now) on what remained of Byzantium.
The crusades were definitely political atleast as much as they were religious.
That said its not surprising that christain europeans of that era had zero understanding of foreign cultures and completely got it wrong.
PS: Spain through out platinum in south america because it wasn't gold. History is wierd and full of irony.
This is actually a surprisingly positive story that not only affirms people's differences but also points out that every person, no matter their supposed physical or character flaw, has a place in society and a way to contribute. Inclusivity, everybody!
> Except for Umul. Umul's entire life is pain and there is no place for him.
@@rotciv557 his place was to teach the gods a lesson maybe. Maybe us. And it depends on having a city... and a king
except the guy with the dysfunctional dong, he has to fix that, the guy has standards and a reputation to keep.
@@a.h.s.3006I mean Back then being disable was something u can work around but being bed ribben is kinda like a death sentence if you are poor
except if your wiener doesn’t work. you get a magic waterfall
"Enki makes her a skilled weaver and puts her in the harem of the queen."
Me: The queen gets her own harem? Well, alright!
*historical explanation of what the harem actually is*
Me: I am slightly disappointed but nonetheless educated!
I refuse to read that, so she will have her own court of women to do whatever she wants
@@trla6505 i was too lazy to read so now, to two people at least, the queen has a harem
This sign can't stop me because I don't know how to read (c)
These responses are a bit tasteless given the explanation is there to dissuade these notions about something hornier that arose from racist and imperialist white perspectives on nonwhite societies.
@@cassidyjones2730 Actually Muslims are WHITE, just with a tan. Also it was likely used in a way to 1. discredit Islam, and 2. was something most horny people wanted to hear and may have been jealous about. You'll find Europeans writing about how "exotic" the foreigners and their ways where; only Politian's, and ruthless businessmen trying to capitalize or exploit those people, or their own people's opinions demonized those outsiders.
Look no further then what the Europeans said about eachother in their own propagandas from the 1700s to the world wars
Here I was, thinking about how “Anything you can do, I can do better” fits the video really well, and SURE ENOUGH
Same, I was not surprised at the end song.
My reaction was "Of course it has to be this song. Nothing else fits"
The "no u" song
You and all of us also, apparently
"What do you call a group of humans?"
"An infestation."
a dissapointment.
@@randomnpc7773 mood
Dbz abridged?
An annoyance
A pest
Red voice acting 2 drunk gods talking to each other was something I never thought I needed in my life, but now I don’t know how I went so long without it.
1:59 here, a gift.
Ah yes I could listen to it for hours XD
The text in case you didn't pause:
This is your reminder that "harem" literally just means "women's quarters of the household", a private space where the women and pre-pubescent men of the family (specifically the royal family) could hang out in a modest and protected area, often guarded by eunuchs. It originated in Mesopotamia, hence its use in this myth, and was later adopted into the Islamic world. The sexualized interpretation popular today was the result of salacious European dudes who concluded the only reason Muslim women would stay in a private room they weren't allowed into was if they were saving all the Hot Exotic Loving for their Male Masters. In practice, it was simply considered socially inappropriate for women to interact with men outside their own husbands and family, though this was limited somewhat by practicality, as many working-class women held jobs that put them in contact with the public in general. This also created a space of jobs that needed women to do them for decency reasons any situation that involved women's needs would be naturally forbidden to men. A harem was a sign of social status and privilege as it was indicated the family was well off enough that the women did not need to work. As a result, women in a harem were often of high social status and politically powerful.
I thought that was because it meant "forbidden"
@@BJGvideos That's haram, completely different word. Harem is the anglicised version of the Arabic word harim while haram is just straight up an Arabic word they look similar written down and sound similar, at least in English, but have different meanings.
@@ioliteable Huh someone told me they were different forms of the same thing
@@BJGvideos Well they effectively are different forms of the same basic meaning in that they have the same root. Semitic languages have a bunch of root consonants that have a general basic meaning and are used in a whole lot of words, in this case H-R-M which does at it's core means forbidden. Harim and haram along with a whole bunch of other words like mahram and ihram are words with really specific meanings that come from a series of consonants that has a general meaning. So harim means either the quarters of ones house set aside for women that is forbidden entry to non-familial men or sometimes just female family members while haram specifically means things that are ritually impure and thus forbidden however in colloquial speech haram is often used to mean forbidden in the general sense because H-R-M isn't a word itself. Although because harem is an English word it has taken on a whole bunch of different connotations and meanings other than just purely what it means in Arabic.
@@ioliteable Language is wild
I feel like the Sumerians kinda had the most plausible creation myth.
One God created man and woman in his image and gave them free will? Nah.
Two drunk gods had a marital spat at a party and made increasingly mangled humans in a weird attempt to one-up each other? Sounds about right.
Also, good on Enki and Ninmah for having so much positive representation of people with disabilities.
Aside from the last guy who just got entirely fucked over
ALso, the bulk of humanity was made as an exploitable labor force that the gods could dump unpleasant jobs onto.
I read marital as martial and got very confused 😂
@@gandalf6751 I had to double check myself.
It's so relatable too, I think that makes it way more believable 😂
Does anyone else have a feeling that the intersex person in a place of honor is related to super cute androgynous being from the myth where Ishtar visits the underworld who gets mystical powers?
I bet you’re right!
Yeah, that myth popped right into my head within a millisecond. It’s GOT to be related!
The hidden moral here is that the Sumerians not only apparently said fuck you to the gender binary, they probably heavily respected those who do so
The specific position possibly being referred to (again the text is broken so we can't ever be sure, it's just something neat) is called "Gala" if you'd like to do some deep research :D
Given it's Enki who makes said individual (and in another version of the myth, two genderless people) to rescue Ishtar, seems like a related concept.
Umul: "Why are we still here...just to suffer?"
Enki: "Yes."
Enki: Now get back to work!!
@@ArgentumFox Umul: "Work? How?"
@@Punaparta More like: "uurgh? huuw?", cause he is Schrodinger's Dead (Literally No functional Organs, hence making Umul half dead and Half Alive)
"No, YOU'RE just here to suffer. Everyone else is generally all right, all things considered.
Nah, your here so I could win a bet with my wife.
All religions and myths are just trying to answer questions that 5 year olds were asking everyone who’ll listen thousands of years ago
Edit: Wow! Over 2k likes, thanks everyone!!
Are we just big 5 year olds?
It makes sense. So rather than tell their kids the actual facts of life they just flat-out invented a religion to sidestep the question.
Guess things don't change all that much, huh?
@@justalilbugman i mean we literally are though?
True, but some adults gotta have belived them right?
Those kids grew up and told these myths
For those who wonder, like Red, why she depicted Enki with a fish on his head: He (and the basically-identical Babylonian god Ea) were sometimes depicted as "a man covered with the skin of a fish," which looks kinda like a fishy headdress.
I went down to the c-section to see if someone esle could explain that, so thanks for being that person!
I love this myth which is why it makes me sad at Red's interpretation of the end. If you look at Umal as an adult then yes he is messed up but that is not the point. Enki made a baby. If you read the original source material the description of Umal fits with a newborn baby and Ninmah gives Umal the fate of being cared for by their mother.
aww
Actually, that kinda makes complete sense. Babies can't walk, can't talk, they can't ask for things and they don't really respond to stuff sometimes. I wonder if Umul grew up to be a normal person.
@@mariustan9275 in the last lines of the epic Enki declares that Umal will build his house. So it it implies that he does grow up to build a temple for Enki.
I saw another interpretation that Umul was not just a baby but a premature baby- which would've basically been a death sentence back then.
I'm really enjoying ancient Summeria's mythological portrayal of the sick, disabled and intersex. As a disabled man it's nice to see that ancient societies appreciated their value somewhat and acknowledged the important roles that they could still play in benefiting society
except Umel... poor guy
Except if you had penis problems apparently those were so horrible that instead of giving that guy a role the gods straight up cured him
@@carlweeper7436 To be fair this was the ancient times. People lived very short lives and kids frequently died due to various reasons. Not being able to produce baby batter could very well doom your community to dying out.
Also notice how this myth _doesn't blame_ the person with a disability for having it. Contrast with the Ancient Greeks, Rome, Christianity, …
Nope, the message to someone with a disability is, “Eh, not your fault. The gods were just drunk when they made you.”
That actually begs the question "what changed?"
Clearly there was a notion that they were treated better than now so what made things "worst" per say
Ninmah be like : WHY ARE WE STILL HERE, JUST TO SUFFER
MAN THAT RESEMBLES ARES AND ATHENA
I have a big... BIG... BIIIIGGGGG... muscles!!! HAHAHA!!! What did you think I was going for? That's so DIRTY of you! GAGAGAGA!!! I am the funniest RUclipsr ever! Maybe that's the reason why I have TWO (!!!) HOT (!) GIRLFRIENDS. Thanks for being alive, dear kos
@@AxxLAfriku you having a stroke?
@@AxxLAfriku -Ares moments after being born (Circa 50,000,000 BC or whatever)
@@dudewheresmycar4203 Thank you for giving AxxL a single redeeming quality.
Well, Umul definitely is here just to suffer...
So, according to this myth, humanity and all of its flaws were really just the product of sleep-influenced and/or drunken decisions.
That makes a lot of sense, actually...
the story is also a bit sweet, if you overlook the pro monarchic message, you can find a pretty inclusive anti ableist message
Yeah! As long as you ignore the bit about intersex being a flaw
@@michalaswindail783 medically speaking, it can come with severe physical and mental health issues associated with it
"And this trend continued."
@@samsmith4242 The mental health issues are often caused by forced surgical modification of their genitalia and social pressure that tries to convince them their bodies are broken. Not to mention gender dysphoria because people have bullshit ideas about how the human body is supposed to look. They get assigned the wrong gender at birth and the game is on. The physical issues aren't common unless the bozos screw up the genital normalization torture... er, procedures.
"And so Umul lived a horrible existence. The End."
"This is an awful bedtime story."
Umal: "Why are we here...? Just to suffer?"
Enki: "Yes"
"Well, YOU are, anyway."
And to dig cannals, of course.
Ninmah: "Oh yeah, I think I WILL make a guy with severe distrust of authority! See if you can put HIM in the king's court, he won't wanna!"
Enki: "...I'm making HIM the king."
Ninmah: "ME-DAMMIT"
Actually, seeing as he probably doesn't trust himself, he would make a good king
@@kaboomgaming4255 Depends on the severity of the distrust. I mean, if he doesn't have confidence in any of his decisions, there's a good couple of ways that could backfire. But still, probably better to have a self distrusting king than a narcissistic war-monger king.
@@jacintacapelety9600 Or completely paranoid of anyone else who has any authority who could surpass him even if they are his subordinates. Leading to frequent vacant positions in the government.
@@kaboomgaming4255 well that’s what the guy whose hands don’t work as for
I like how for all the other parts it was like “lol it’s okay you don’t need eyes or hands or feet to contribute to society” but for the dong is “nope let’s get that fixed someone get the magic water”
Well I mean without a dong you can't do the primary purpose of all living beings, that being procreation.
A dude with any limb missing is still functional.
A dude with his dick missing is biologically completely defunct, same goes for a woman without a uterus.
@@red5t653 I think you've sort of missed the point of the comment? The very next person listed in the video is an infertile woman, and she gets to find purpose as a great weaver. Dong-don't-work-guy doesn't get a cool alternate purpose though, he just gets his dong fixed.
@@sockpuppetqueen Oh uh hm...
Yeah that's a bit of failed listening.
Bit weird how they make the distinction although I suppose fertility was nowhere close to being properly figured out yet.
@Caiden Leonard in fact, his problem is that he can't NOT pee- the original text describes him as not being able to hold his urine, like that's the specific way his dong doesn't work
Which I guess is actually a lot more disruptive than just being infertile
@Caiden Leonard Which don't exist until late into the industrial revolution so.... no.
3:12 So, what you're saying is harem anime should really be about high political intrigue.
YES!
Actually there’s a webtoon about this! Men of the Harem is basically about a lady building a harem all for her political benefit
Dear god yes. So much better than high school age teen drama
If your harem hentai doesn't have political intrigue and high stakes diplomacy then count me out
now this is a harem anime i'd watch
Enki had severe drinking problem:
He had an argument with his daughter Inanna (also known as Ishtar), as she wanted to give the gift of civilisation to humans, to make their lives easier but he said no and they had a row. Later in Anna shows up at her father's side with beer says a let's let bygones be bygones and have a party, which they do. But she went into this with a plan, she got her father extremely drunk, and then played the whole "you know how I'm your favourite daughter? Well there's something I really want..." Routine.
Enki, thoroughly plastered at this point, gives Inanna the powers of heaven and the gifts of civilization; at which point she then immediately books it to the other of the world, and he goes to sleep.
Enki wakes up in the morning (presumably with a massive hangover), and realises that his power, crown and sceptre are missing. Enki goes to Inanna but since she is now far more powerful than him, she refuses and continues to give the gift of civilisation to humans, allowing them to change the world, tame beasts, plough the earth and plant crops.
Enki is quite upset by this because he didn't want humans to have the power of god's, but since he gave away the crown and powers of heaven, he can't really stop his daughter and just kind of complains moodily.
So what you are saying is that Inanna (Ishtar) is responsible for global warming AND late-stage capitalism?
This is probably the most realistic marriage in all mythologies.
sadly, judging by my family example, Zeus and Hera is more realistic marriage...
@@sinistertwister686 and who asked?
@@malvinpatrickcanero9070 now that's a happy couple
@@darkchylde7532No one has to ask.
imagine being created as a human being and your only purpose is to feel pain and have a fate so horrible it can’t be fixed even by a creator goddess on high and then all the gods praise your creator for being so great and benevolent would that be fucked up or what
Nah, that's kinda what the Christian god is to some people. An all powerful being that's praise for being benevolent yet he made you refuse to help you or others to end the suffering.
In other words, it's exactly like real life for a lot of us.
Well, they weren't praising him for being benevolent, just for still being clever while drunk. 😉
69 likes
I don't think that guy feels anything.
Jokes on Enki when that last person turns out be Stephen Hawking, doing quantum physics in his head.
I think this is my favourite comment on this video; legit made me smile. :)
He don't got no internal 'gans. Brain gone
@@prophecynewt2250 then Enki had cheated and Ninmah was right all along
@@georgeuferov1497 HELL DAMNIT!!!
So let me get this straight... In Sumerian myth, the first humans were created because of one dude's laziness, while the concept of disability was created as a result of a drunken marital spat?
That about sums it up
@@royalrose3699 So... Marriage is the source of all the world's problems? (That's sarcasm and a joke, don't hate me RUclips comments section)
@@christianrose9166 based on my parents, I’m inclined to agree with you lmao
@Manek Iridius Alright, if you want to correct what is obviously a joke and be super-technical, I'll correct your obviously serious comment and be even more super-technical: People aren't the source of all the world's problems, people who are assholes and/or idiots are the source of all the world's problems. I knew that already, which is why I typed "That's sarcasm and a joke..." after my comment in brackets.
Hera, Zeus, take notes! Please!
As a D&D player, the idea of Tiamat trying to be passive-aggressive is pretty hilarious.
It’s even more amusing if you use the Fate version
@@theomnissiah-9120 YES. The mental image of Tiamat, Beast of Humanity, Primordial Goddess attempting to be passive aggressive is an extremely hilarious mental image-
@@medusashusband4680
The funniest part is how it would probably make sense. Tiamat is often very doting but her force of personality is deffinitely strong enough to start acting a little passive-agressive towards unruly children.
Like imagine someone not eating their vegetables and Tiamat just in the background becoming increasing annoyed about it.
Ninmah only lost because she apparently (despite her being wasted on heavenly booze) had enough compassion towards her creations not to so thoroughly screw them over to the point of being beyond all hope by making them exist in a persistent vegetative state.
lesson: *don´t have mercy when you are betting*
It really is incongruent with the other myths where Enki is the most compassionate towards people.
@@smillstill Right?
Ultimately, the nature of humanity is just one massive enigma that we’ve only recently begun to scratch the surface of.
Edit: Okay, Red’s drunk voice is the best! XD
i like to believe that humans were just thrown on the planet for funsies and that whatever gods or goddesses put us here are just watching us like how we’d watch the office
@@mynameisopulence I like that interpretation a lot i would want to show based on that
I agree Red’s drunken voice is fantastic
imagine a drunk podcast
From what I’ve seen from most culture’s mythologies, humans seem to project their own characteristics onto their gods in order to make them more familiar and relatable to their worshippers. However, this can be a double edged sword as these gods have all the flaws of humanity which are amplified by their supernatural powers and almost total lack of consequences.
A random baby: Where did we come from?
Ancient Egyptian: it all begins with a wanker...
I read Ancient Egyptian as steriotypical Australian Bogan.
As all things tend to...
I like how the humans were literally just created as an exploitable workforce. These gods are so open about how selfish their motives for making humanity are.
And then there’s Umal who was born to suffer so his creator could cheat at a bet.
Gilgamesh came into power because his king was forcing everyone to dig canals for free. Apparently, making people did canals is just what authority figures do.
I mean this is the plot of Assassin's Creed. Speaking of which, why aren't there any Mesopotamian Isu? They should be the most powerful bunch.
@@duckshallrule6937 Go back to Blue's Mesopotamia video.
If you don't want to have a famine, there must be canals.
This is why the Sumerian gods are my favorite
Ninma's drunken rambling taken out of context is so funny, especially the "I'm a GoDdeSS"
"Ninmah should make someone with a healthy disrespect for authority, see what Enki does about THAT."
Court Jester.
Finally an ancient myth that explains why im chronically ill with out like blaming me, my anecestors, or me but in a past life. i feel bad for chronically ill people of the past always getting blamed for their own bodies being a mess.
At least some of the Afrodiasporan faiths (I havne't checked to see if it's common) believe people with disabilities were created the day Obatala became drunk on palm wine and kept working anyway. He's their special protector and patron because of this.
Yep, it's a great explanation for why bad things happen to good people: it's not a punishment, god just got drunk.
Most religions have things like that as a curse from the gods, it's relatively modern that that kind of thing actually meant anything though. Most polytheistic religions operate on the principle that the gods are unpredictable/jackasses/fickle, and therefore one or more of them not liking your doesn't say much other than "it's nothing about you, but, well, if the gods hate you, I don't want to associate with you, I don't want to become collateral damage." The Greeks did have the perception at some point that being blessed or cursed by the gods was an indicator of your character in some way, physical beauty could quite literally win you a criminal trial on the basis of the gods' blessing meaning your can't be guilty. Generally speaking, the more a religion believes in the fairness of the world/gods, the more likely they are to believe that if you have some kind of blessing or problem, you earned it one way or another.
BRUH, _he created a person, who's only semblance of a purpose, in what could _*_loosely_*_ be described as life, is literally pain,_ and everyone just went, "Yeah, this guy is great!" 👀
And apparently sang a praiseful dong song about his schlong to go with it
To be fair to him that was the point of the contest. The other god was trying to create someone who could find or do no good to she just was bad at it.
He created the argument for euthanasia
@@emiliobustamante2401 And for that poor human, it would indeed be a "good death"
Humans: what is our purpose
Enki: you make canals
Humans: oh my God
Enki: no prob
Or as Clint would put it, "There are those who are gods, and those who dig. You dig."
That creation myth was really deep for something so short. It gets into the topics of ableism, infertility (apparently not sexism tho cuz the man gets his infertility fixed with magic), n at the end it shows us to accept that sometimes we can't save everyone (stillbirths I think was more the idea they were going for but I it applies well to terminal illness as well)
Umal: "what is my purpose"
Enki: "You pass me the win in this bet."
Umal:
Umal: "oh my you"
Enki: "Yeah. Welcome to the club, pal."
"Once you get a couple humans you tend to get more"
Dionysus : Giggity
*He's doing the whole Quagmire 'Jaws' scene.*
"Giiiigidy, giiiiigidy..." ... Just look it up
More like priapus.
@@camblycreeper7999 gi gi gi gi gi gi gi gi gi gitityyyyyy
Forget Schrödinger's cat
Enki's random ass dude he made for a bet
Moral of the story: intersex people belong in the Royal palace in a place of honor
I like this moral.
@@spencerabdo5144 so do I
Every white men civilization clearly didn't get the memo.
@@carlosroo5460 *every civilisation
Also blind people are good at music.
Ninmah: Creates people with disabilities they have to work around.
Enki: Works around those disabilities to give the a good life.
Ninmah: Creates an guy whose dong doesn't work.
Enki: Oh hell no, we're fixing that one.
Infertile dude: "Oh no I can't have kids."
Enki: dumps magic water on him and cures his infertility
Infertile woman: "Oh no I can't have kids"
Enki: Makes her a weaver and puts her in the queen's harem without curing her infertility.
Somehow this seems a bit unfair...
oh the dude wasnt infertile, looking at the original text, he was incontinent. still unfair, but
I mean maybe she was infertile because she didn't want to get married and was lucky enough to be infertile and she could work for herself
@@elizabethlee2136 "maybe she was infertile because she didn´t want to get married-"
she was infertile because of a *bet* between gods(?
@@maucazalv903 yea. Women frequently give up kids and a husband to pursue artistic and intellectual pursuits because they had to. Joining convents to write for heavens sake or even join politics.
I like to think she's baby averse so the gods look nicer
The mans dong dont work so no sex but the woman still can
From the description:
"Make sure to pause for an unnecessarily detailed explanation of what a harem actually is!"
Based on some of the takes I've seen on harems... no, it's really necessary.
It's about what harem meant before it was sexualized, if that helps
So you mean to tell me that degenerate seasonal anime starting poorly drawn nymphets of questionable ages classified as the "Harem" genre might not use a historically accurate definition?
So Enki became top god because he could doom a human to a life of suffering better than Ninmah could
Yeah pretty consistent with typical god behavior
The top god would be Enlil. Actually that would be of the nine deities. Above them it is Anu. In teh Sumerian narration the goddess makes the humans and wants to discard some of them. I is Enki is the caring one and finds jobs for them. This video sounds like the Babylonian version.
I love that the myth implies that people with physical disabilities were respected and given special considerations for employment in ancient Sumerian society. The Sumerians also seemed to be more understanding and accepting of LGBT peoples based on references to intersex people, eunuchs, and male priests who dressed up as women as part of some fertility goddess cults.
*seemed*
I wouldn’t be surprised if they fell short in practice.
Eunuchs in the context of a harem were a caste (often made of *slaves*) who got castrated without anesthesia and potentially with questionable consent. Is that something you really want representing "understanding"?
@@BlackCover95 I wouldn't be surprised if they fell short, nor would I be surprised if they didn't. Really 50/50 chance from what I've heard.
Don't make the mistake of wishful thinking, believing history at any point was on the side of LGBT. It REALLY wasn't nearly as fun as your cherry picking makes it out to be
I love how Enki's solution to all problems is just to pawn it off on the king
If Ishtar taught us anything, it's that being nonbinary or, in this case, intersex, is hot, and badass, not a bad fortune. (Even though there are medical complications) In summary, intersex people are awesome. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. (I'm dating an intersex person, so I had to speak up. Also, thanks Red for validation, since I'm paralyzed. I slowed down the credits.)
a lot of intersex conditions destroy your body, it aint that great. I'm just a woman with swyer syndrome, it's like any other medical condition, not hot lol. Your SO prob feels the same, the only thing it's ever gotten most of us is medical abuse, a select few might get book deals. These stories are nice for representation, but it's like saying type 1 diabetics or people with cleft lips are "all your flowery adjectives here" because there's some myth to rationalize it because those people didn't understand how or why those things happened, so they made mythological context of their own. Just treat us like regular people, don't project your idea of what activism we need onto us (we fall under disabilities rights if you MUST insert yourself) speak up when people try to use us as pawns in their trans/gender arguments, and help prevent childhood medical abuse. Oh, and advocate for the stopping of othering us, like putting Xs on birth certs for intersex babies, that shit is dangerous. That's it. This kind of empty worded praise from dyadics just comes across as condescending.
Thanks for coming to MY ted talk.
Tiamat: "I made man!"
Enki: "I made a man with no internal organs!"
Ninmah: "I made...uh...everyone have debilitating medical conditions!"
bad take op
i could fix umel. since he has no internal organs, he’s not really a person, but he still has to have a better fate. if all he can do is moan in pain, then he is now the thing responsible for the weird sounds you hear at night. ta da
@@wren_. and now i am no longer afraid of weird nightly noises :D
Am I the only one who is like seriously, this is evedence that disability rep can be better and modern writers can say it won't work cause it did !
"Education is the discovery of one's own ignorance." and people are not as educated as they think they are.
Too bad no one clued Sia in on this before she made "Music'''.
Our morals are regressing.
@@snakesmind-uroborodjinn3471 Being a decent human being has become 'woke' so now people are against it...
@@jordanloux3883 I hate the "this goes against what i believe so instead of reevaluating myself, I'm gonna see myself as the victim! I'm not wrong, my morals are being attacked!!" mindset that false Christianity has fostered in mankind.
And I'm a (progressive) Christian so it's pretty impressive to make me disappointed in my fellow Jesus followers.
"Someone who can't understand her might not even qualify as being alive because he's that messed up." Well, she could have put him to work in Congress and thereby won the contest.
Mitch’s origin story?
I hate how true this is.
Congress? He could become President! Apparently, you don't have to be able to adlib for the position anymore!
@@artofthepossible7329 Of any side too.
Yeah. Actually, yeah.
Ancient myths:
"Non-Binary people exist and are humans and should be treated equally"
Modern people:
"Lol what?"
non-binary as in physically or mentally?
@@azzzanadra both, both is good
@@libbywilliams9969 I am question the definition of non-binary seen in myths and the one used today.
Suspicion: Enki kept with the “Place in the king’s court” blessings specifically as a voluntary handicap to piss Ninmah off.
“Not only can I counterbalance anything you can do, I can do it all with the same basic blessing!”
“There are not yet words for how much I hate you, fish-boy.”
“Ooh, make another one, I’ll turn them into a poet for the King so they can make those words for you!”
I always like reading creation myths to draw on similarities
It interesting that a lot of creation is based ether on clay, water and light.
Most have similarities, and then their is the Egyptian busting a fat nut creation story
@@KumaoftheForest in Egypt, it not called the Big Bang, it called the big nut.
You should read some South American creation myths. They are different from other parts of the world, but similiar to each other. Basically, every South American creation myth shares this common traits: The "Creator" that makes the world, but then doesn't do anything else. After that we get the "Great Hero of Civilization" some person, some times a god made man, sometimes a demigod, some times just a primordial human, who is able to gather everyone to follow him, teaches them to hunt, creates the first laws and legal system. Immediately we usually get "The Deciever" another person that is a form of primordial evil, or a jealous person, or the first person with evil intent, who either tries to kill or defeats the "Great Hero of Civilization" making mankind doubt his prowess and/or wisdom. A little later the "Great Hero of Civilization" returns, defeats "The Deciever" to return to his spot as leader of civilization. Tells mankind the last of his wisdom, and then disappears into the sky/ocean/night never to return.
Every South American creation myth from Colombia to Peru, Chile, Argentina, etc, has some sort of variation of this formula.
@@CSLucasEpic like the different worlds and suns?
"Apparently, weenis-doesnt-work disease is caused by minor demonic possession."
I literally lol'ed at that. Scared my cat
Why though? Why is that a thing?
I am baby's first existential question... no one knows why I exist, and yet I do
*eldritch wailing*
Ok
The Question of Eldritch abominations: Why do THEY exist?
Simple answer: The Accidental Sentient Universal Center of Everything had some bits that it spat out, and then they tried keeping them alseep for longer
"Apparently wenis-doesn't-work disease is caused by minor demonic possession" is now my new favorite sentence
"Apparently weenis-doesn't work disease is caused by minor demonic possession." the way that was delivered fuckin killed me, I love your writing. never fails to make me smile.
This video has been approved by a turtle
Bot
I thank thee, o wise reptile of the sea!
I came here to procrastinate, not to have an existential crisis
I procrastinated by having an existential crisis
@@starmaker75 u ok?
Why not both?
@@lovedovexoxo6173 kinda
mood
It's actually really interesting that a society as ancient as Mesopotamia thought of a creation myth for differently abled people and effectively told them "You aren't defined by your disability. You have worth and can aspire to great things!"
as a cripple intersex person the words "differently abled" feels so condescending in a way only the most arrogant summer school teacher could achieve lmfao
I'm not differently abled, I have lesions in my spine and garbled chromosomes, it's okay to call it like you sees it. It's like calling the slow kid "special." We all know what you mean, dude lol.
@appalachiabrauchfrau Fair enough. You are also oversensitive and use your pain to cast yourself as a victim. God made you. If He wanted you dead you would be. Pray for guidance. Use your weaknesses as your strengths. Find something you are good at that fills you with passion. Use it to serve humanity. Stop fearing words. Get up.
Norse mythology and Sumerian mythology have myths like this where the gods have working marriage where they just mess with humans in order to one up each other (like that time Frigga made a king imprison Odin to win a bet) then there’s Greek mythology and their gods in dysfunctional hot mess marriages
2:54
And that ladies and gentlemen is how we got the miracle that is Red.
Enki always had a fish on his head, it’s just how he roll. Even some of the earliest depictions of him you could tell the artist went “how to say he’s a god of water? Oh!” *slaps fish on his head* “perfect”
*Enki:* I win!
*Ninmah:* Fine, here's your booze or whatever.
*Enki:* Good job Umal.
*Umal:* KILL ME I'M IN CONSTANT PAIN!!!!
*Enki:* That's the spirit.
Damn. This story has more lgbtq representation than most of modern literature. Seems like Mesopotamia were cool with that.
Sorry if i am mistaken, but there only is one intersex person
I mean just look at Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The world's oldest piece of literature with the oldest known gay couple.
In the case of the intersex one it was the human was born with NO genitals. Not really intersex tbh
@@BallsTheDog The perfect asexual
@@luvslotsastuff A shining example of homiesexuality
Yay! Disability-positive narratives! More of THAT, please.
"Where do these people ceep coming from?" -the king probably
Drunk gods are almost always a bad combination. “Oh, but these drunk gods made humans!” Like I said...
Dionysus was a very good combination I will have you know.
@@camblycreeper7999 ok ok good point. Counter point: he’s basically the god of drunks.
There's a place in the world for everyone...
except Umul. Poor Umul. I hope he winds up in the king's court and makes some friends.
Well he seems to get along with birds fine.
I mean, those ugly ones that like to fly in circles haven’t left his side.
He exists to remind people it could always be worse. They could be Umul.
Umul serves as a lesson.
the one dislike in ninmah angry that she losttt
The other dislike was Umal who was literally born just to suffer.
@@InquisitorThomas Wouldn't Umal be too aliven't to dislike the video?
@@anonguy772 Yes, but also too deadn't.
I actually named my Inteleon Enki, because I saw that he was the God of water and knowledge and slapped it on my boy and called it a day. Its cool to now be hearing about him from my favourite story tellers.
In context and depending on the source used, it's implied that Umul was the first human baby and his inability to do things is just normal baby stuff, since all humans had been made fully formed until then.
Could Ninmah have won just by waiting 16 years or so for him to grow up?
Humanity’s creation as a drunken bet is stupidly on-point.
For real though, the whole "you aren't broken if you're disabled/infertile/intersex" message is actually really cool, and much more wholesome then I expected from a thousands years old myth
Edit: typo
Eeeh I dunno, considering that all of their "good fates" were working for the king, you could easily read this sending a message of "It's okay to be born different, so long as you are still useful to the people in power" which, if you ask me, is a little bit messed up and gives off some authoritarian vibes. Maybe that's just me though.
@@jonathankent1517 Oh shit that's right. Good thing we're thinking against that shit
this fact that we humans are made from a hangover in this creation myth is great
Hey, just like in Vegas, how about that? And they call that place unholy.
that’s why we had a monarchy
Humans aren't made from a hangover match, disabled humans are in this myth.
It makes too much sense.
Sincerely thank you for that note I had no idea about the origins of the word harem and how its meaning has changed. It’s really cool you added that.
Healthy disrespect for authority?
Make them the Commoner's Representative to the King's court, to remind the King of his duties to the people, and how vastly they outnumber him.
Honestly the whole western misconception of harems needs to be its own video.
Enki: I can make the most miserable human of all! Red: I can give you fish hair for some forgettable reason and now we're stuck with it
"Inky makes an infertile woman"
Me, lesbian who doesn't want kids: I see no problems here.
Me, a straight guy who also doesn't want kids: Me neither.
Me, a camel: *camel noises*
Me, an asexual enby with no desire to push a child out of my body: This is perfect actually.
*Umal:* Why are we still here? Just to suffer?
*Enki:* lol yeah
Enki is amazing and sadly overlooked even more than other Sumerian gods are. Probably my favorite deity in Mesopotamian Mythos. Glad that you made video on him.